A new name representing Vietnam will grace the NJPW ring soon.
Ares, a three-time champion in Vietnam Pro Wrestling, is expected to appear as part of NJPW’s October 12 Road to King of Pro Wrestling card in Korakuen Hall.
Teaming with IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji, Ares will face off against G1 winner Ryohei Oiwa and Zack Sabre Jr. in tag action.
Tsuji made an appearance last month at a VPW event to personally recruit Ares to NJPW’s Noge Dojo.
Cagematch.net records show that Ares has worked for VPW since 2022, carrying their openweight title for a total of 518 days. He dropped their top belt last month to Da Butcherman in the main event of their annual Rumble card.
NJPW commentator Walker Stewart wrote about the significance of Ares’ debut in a recent social media post:
“Never before has a Vietnamese pro wrestler made it to a stage like this,” he wrote. “When Tsuji offered Ares a position in the Noge Dojo, everyone on their roster and on the staff were moved to tears.”
NJPW will present two nights of Road To action from Korakuen Hall before heading to Ryogoku Sumo Hall for this year’s King of Pro Wrestling card.
Both lineups for NJPW’s upcoming Korakuen Hall shows were confirmed on Monday. Here’s how they look:
Tuesday, October 6 – NJPW Road to King of Pro Wrestling Night 1
- Yuya Uemura, Boltin Oleg, Taichi, El Desperado & Taisei Nakahara vs. SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- YOH & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori
- Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Shun Skywalker & Dick Togo
- Jeff Cobb & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman & Zane Jay
- Aaron Wolf, Hechicero & Masatora Yasuda vs. Kosei Fujita, Zack Sabre Jr. & Robbie Eagles
- Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
- HENARE & Great-O-Khan vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice (IWGP Tag Team Championships)
Wednesday, October 7 / NJPW Road to King of Pro Wrestling Night 2
- Taisei Nakahara vs. Yushin Hatazawa
- Yuya Uemura, El Desperado, Taichi & Masatora Yasuda vs. SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi, DOUKI & SHO
- Shota Umino, Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg & Master Wato vs. Shun Skywalker, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Dick Togo
- Jeff Cobb, OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Shingo Takagi vs. Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Zane Jay
- Yota Tsuji & Ares vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.
- Aaron Wolf, Hechicero & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Hartley Jackson
- YOH vs. Robbie X (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship)
